A unit of Lasting
Forests
Sustained forests; sustained profits
evolving since March 30,
1999
Project Povotal-Rig
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The Woodland Community Land Trust is a grassroots non-profit organization founded in 1977 by the residents of Roses Creek, Tennessee, to give the people of the Clearfork Valley secure and affordable access to land and housing. Trust lands create a place in which residents exercise stewardship over the land. They work together for decent and afford-able housing, economic and environmental sustainability, and educational and cultural enrichment.
The Trust is acquiring a sufficient land base to allow residents to build a sustainable community. In doing so, this also takes land out of specu-lation, thereby dramatically increasing local influence on community economic develop-ment. The Trust owns 320 acres of land and demonstrates good timber man-agement on 112 acres leased from the Uni-versity of Tennessee. A rural settlement plan was developed and approved by the Campbell County Planning Commission to guide long-range use of the land.
The Trust offers 99-year leases on on 1-acre homesites which can be transferred to a leaseholder's heirs if they commit to use the land in a socially and environmentally re-sponsible way. The Trust's board of directors is composed of residents of the land trust as well as mem-bers of the larger community. This ensures that the rural settlement plan and the plan for economic renewal through forest management are controlled by the people who live on the land. It also assures that larger needs of the Clearfork Valley community are identified. The formal structure of the 501 (c)(3) nonprofit and the informal association among neighbors makes the work of sustainable development engaging and challenging.
The Trust has 24 house sites, 6 acres of cultivated garden land, a picnic and theater area, and a 3-acre campsite. To assist low-income families from the area who wish to reside on trust land, the Woodland Community Development Corporation (hereinafter "The Community Corporation") was formed in 1989 to provide housing and small business assistance. By blending a variety of funding resources with sweat equity, the Community Corporation is able to provide afford-able mortgages. There are approximately 18 families (55 people) now living on Trust land and moving towards this type of home ownership. Two acres of land are committed to offices for The Trust, The Corporation, Appalachian Community Development, and a local communications center. Two acres of land are devoted to a sawmill and wood drier, and 275 acres of land are dedicated to sustainable forestry. The Trust has also developed a Living Learning Center related to Appalachian life and culture.
From Woodland Community Land Trust brochure, 2002
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This Web site is maintained by R. H. Giles, Jr.
Last revision June 6,
2002.